This album, probably published in about 1920, contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. The photographs depict the wooden churches that were central to the practice of Uniate Christianity (combining Roman Catholicism with the Eastern Rite), to which most Ruthenians converted from Eastern Orthodoxy ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. The wooden Pokrovska Church was built in Syanky in 1645 and moved to Kostrina in 1761. Its three-tiered towers sit pagoda-like above the wood-shingled ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. Saint Michael’s Church in Uzhok dates from 1745. Like many of the region’s churches, it was later covered with a dark oil ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. Shown here is the bell tower and part of the Church of Saint Nicholas the Miracle Worker at Iska (present-day Izky), which dates from ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. Shown here is the bell tower of the Church of Our Lady at Torun` built in 1809. The town is in Mizhhiria District, in ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. This village scene shows the town of Torun` in Mizhhiria District, in eastern Carpathian Ruthenia. Both houses and churches have steeply pitched roofs with ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. This pastoral scene shows Dolní Apša (Lower Apsha), with villagers meeting on the road through the village and the church on a hill in ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. Shown here is the wooden church in Dolní Apša (Lower Apsha), which rises on a hill above the village. The elegant spire above the ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. Shown here is the wooden church in Repenie (also seen as Repinne), in Mizhhiria District, eastern Carpathian Ruthenia. The tall tower with a double-tented ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. The wooden church in Majdanka village has a steeply pitched roof with an overhang, like most churches in the Carpathian Mountains, which both protects ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. Shown here is the village of Uzhchora (present-day Ust-Chorna), hugging the sides of a valley in the mountains and shrouded in clouds. The village ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. Shown here is a pastoral scene of the cultivated fields and mountains around the village of Iska (present-day Izky) in Mizhhiria District. The baroque ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. On the right in this picture is the Church of the Ascension of Our Lord in Yasinya, built in 1824 and typical of the ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. Shown here is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul and its bell tower in the Plytovate area of Yasinya, across the Tisza River ...

This image is part of an album probably published in about 1920 that contains 20 photographs of scenes in Carpathian Ruthenia, a mountainous region, most of which was part of the Austria-Hungary before World War I, but which became part of the new Czechoslovak state in 1919. Today the largest portion of it forms Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, with smaller parts in Slovakia and Poland. This image shows part of the village of Yasinya, which spreads out from the banks of the Tisza River surrounded by fields and mountains ...

This view of the main façade of the Tokareva house at No. 67 Kirov (formerly Permskaia) Street in Perm' was taken in 1999 by Dr. William Brumfield, American photographer and historian of Russian architecture, as part of the "Meeting of Frontiers" project at the Library of Congress. Established in the 1720s as a factory settlement on the middle reaches of the Kama River, Perm' (so named in 1781) is one of Russia's largest cities. Before the 1917 revolution, Perm’ was the center of a large and prosperous merchant community ...

This view of a wooden house at No. 26 Ordzhonikidze (formerly Monastyrskaia) Street, in the Tatar district of Perm', was taken in 1999 by Dr. William Brumfield, American photographer and historian of Russian architecture, as part of the "Meeting of Frontiers" project at the Library of Congress. Established in the 1720s as a factory settlement on the middle reaches of the Kama River, Perm’ (so named in 1781) is one of Russia's largest cities. Before the 1917 revolution, it was the center of a large merchant community, of which ...

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire.

This photochrome print is part of “Landscape and Marine Views of Norway” from the catalog of the Detroit Photographic Company. The photo depicts a tourist house on Spitsbergen Island, part of the Svalvard Archipelago, located within the Arctic Circle, some 550 kilometers north of the Norwegian mainland. There were no tourist accommodations on Spitsbergen until around 1896, when the Vesteraalens Steamship Company constructed a tourist house along the coast of Advent Bay to accommodate an influx of visitors. The Detroit Photographic Company was launched as a photographic publishing firm in ...

This view of wooden houses on the left bank of the Sukhona River at Tot'ma (Vologda Oblast) was taken in 1998 by Dr. William Brumfield, American photographer and historian of Russian architecture, as part of the "Meeting of Frontiers" project at the Library of Congress. The Sukhona links the south central part of Vologda Oblast with the northeast part and for centuries was part of an important trading network that led northward to the White Sea. This network, and its links to Saint Petersburg and Moscow, sustained the prosperity ...

The Mariinsky Canal System (now the Volga-Baltic Waterway) links Saint Petersburg with the Volga River basin. A major part of the system is the Svir River, which flows 224 kilometers from Lake Onega west to Lake Ladoga. The village of Pidma (in present-day Leningrad Oblast) is located where the small Pidma River, 13 kilometers in length, flows into the Svir. Shown in this 1909 photograph is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior, built in 1696. This remarkable octagonal building, which unfortunately no longer exists, was constructed of horizontal ...

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire.

The Mariinskii Canal system (now known as the Volga-Baltic Waterway) links Saint Petersburg with the Volga River basin. Among the major components of the waterway is White Lake in Vologda Oblast. At its southeastern end, the lake is drained by the Sheksna River, a tributary of the Volga. Shown here is a wooden chapel located near the village of Krokhino at the origin of the Sheksna. The chapel was dedicated to Saint Basil the Great and commemorated what was considered to be an earlier site of the medieval town of ...

This 1909 photograph shows a wooden chapel in the village of Topornia with a veranda and, on the west, a small porch supporting a bell cote. The chapel, which no longer exists, was surrounded by a picket fence. In the background is a typical northern izba (log house). The Mariinskii Canal system (now known as the Volga-Baltic Waterway) links Saint Petersburg with the Volga River basin. A major component of the waterway is White Lake, which is drained at its southeastern part by the Sheksna River, a tributary of the ...

A major component of the Volga-Baltic Waterway (formerly called the Mariinsk Canal System), linking Saint Petersburg with the Volga River basin, is the Sheksna River, which drains the southeastern part of White Lake (Beloe ozero). The original length of the Sheksna was 395 kilometers, from White Lake to the Sheksna’s confluence with the Volga at the town of Rybinsk. Resevoirs created in the mid-20th century submerged the land along the river. A notable lost landmark was the John the Baptist Convent at the village of Leushino, located on the ...

This northwest view of two wooden churches and a bell tower at the village of Liadiny (Arkhangel'sk Oblast) was taken in 1998 by Dr. William Brumfield, American photographer and historian of Russian architecture, as part of the "Meeting of Frontiers" project at the Library of Congress. Located some 30 kilometers from Kargopol', the Liadiny area has been inhabited from time immemorial, and the village itself was the location of an ancient pogost, the sacred territory of an enclosed cemetery. The ensemble contains two churches: the Church of the Epiphany ...

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire.

The Murmansk Railroad was built by the Russian government during World War I to connect Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) to the ice-free port of Romanov-on-Murman (now Murmansk). Construction lasted from 1914 to the spring of 1917 when the line was completed. Shown here is the log house of a railway post near a road crossing in the vicinity of Petrozavodsk (in Karelia). A woman stands in front of a shed, next to which are log sections to be cut for firewood. The track takes a sharp curve (on right). A signal ...

The Murmansk Railroad was built by the Russian government during World War I to connect Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) to the ice-free port of Romanov-on-Murman (now Murmansk). Construction lasted from 1914 to the spring of 1917 when the line was completed. Along the route was the Kivach Waterfall on the Suna River, which originates in Lake Kivijärvi in Karelia and flows 280 kilometers to the Kondopoga Bay of Lake Onega. Visible in this view across the waterfall is the tiny village of Kivach, with three log houses. Because of the multiple ...

The Murmansk Railroad was built by the Russian government during World War I to connect Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) to the ice-free port of Romanov-on-Murman (now Murmansk). Construction lasted from 1914 to the spring of 1917 when the line was completed. Along the route were the Por-Porog Rapids on the Suna River, in the Kondopoga region of Karelia. Seen here is the bottom of the rapids where the Suna enters Lake Voronovo. Visible in the foreground are cut timber caught in the rapids on the way to a sawmill downriver. On ...

The Murmansk Railroad was built by the Russian government during World War I to connect Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) to the ice-free port of Romanov-on-Murman (now Murmansk). Construction lasted from 1914 to the spring of 1917 when the line was completed. Seen here is the northwest view of the Church of Saints Florus and Laurus, built at the village of Ilemselga in the latter part of the 19th century and demolished during the Soviet period. Surfaced with planks and painted white, the church was a log structure in the traditional form ...

The Murmansk Railroad was built by the Russian government during World War I to connect Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) to the ice-free port of Romanov-on-Murman (now Murmansk). Construction lasted from 1914 to the spring of 1917 when the line was completed. This photograph shows the village of Lizhma, located on a short Karelian river of the same name. In the foreground is a small wooden church seen from the northwest. Surfaced with planks painted a “factory red,” the church was a log structure with a bell tower over the entrance at ...

The Murmansk Railroad was built by the Russian government during World War I to connect Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) to the ice-free port of Romanov-on-Murman (now Murmansk). Construction lasted from 1914 to the spring of 1917 when the line was completed. This photograph shows the village of Lizhma, located on a short Karelian river of the same name. In the foreground is a small wooden church (not extant) seen from the northwest. Surfaced with planks painted a “factory red,” the church was a log structure with a bell tower over the ...

The Murmansk Railroad was built by the Russian government during World War I to connect Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) to the ice-free port of Romanov-on-Murman (now Murmansk). Construction lasted from 1914 to the spring of 1917 when the line was completed. This photograph, entitled etude (study) by the photographer, shows the mouth of the Kumsa River near Medvezhia Gora Station. Only 62 kilometers long, the Kumsa empties into the extreme northwestern part of Lake Onega. To the right are several log structures, including small houses of uniform design. Founded in 1915 ...

From 1909 to 1912, Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) made several trips to the territory around the Ural Mountains, where he photographed railroad installations, factories, urban settings, and natural scenes. This photograph shows the Verkh-Isetskii Zavod (factory on the Upper Iset’), one of the earliest settlements near the town of Ekaterinburg. The factory in the settlement was established in 1726, after Peter the Great implemented a strategy to build metalworking facilities near iron ore sources in the Urals. Hydraulic power for the factory came from a large pond ...

From 1909 to 1912, Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) made several trips to the territory around the Ural Mountains, where he photographed railroad installations, factories, urban settings, and natural scenes. Among the towns Prokudin-Gorskii visited in September 1909 was Zlatoust, located in the Ai River valley to the west of Chelyabinsk. Named in honor of Saint John Chrysostom (“golden-tongued,” or zlatoust), the town was founded in 1754 and became a center of finished metal production, including armaments. By 1913, the population of the town was 19,000. This ...

The town of Zlatoust is located in the northwest part of contemporary Cheliabinsk Oblast. Named in honor of Saint John Chrysostom (Golden-Tongued, or zlatoust), Zlatoust was founded in 1754 and became a center of metalworking and armaments production. One of the pioneering factory owners was Larion I. Luginin, member of a merchant dynasty from Tula. His properties included the village of Vetluga (now an eastern district within Zlatoust), which was settled in the late 18th century by factory serfs from the Vetluga region of Kostroma Province. Seen here is the ...

The caption for this photograph, taken near the railway station at Viazovaia (present-day Cheliabinsk Oblast), has a precise date: September 12, 1909. The photographer would have used the old-style Julian calendar (13 days behind the Western calendar). Therefore the actual date would have been near the end of September. The landscape is covered in snow, the effects of a sudden storm that could occur in early autumn in this mountainous region. Viazovaia is located on what was then called the Samara-Zlatoust Railroad (now the Ufa-Cheliabinsk line). Completed in 1890, the ...

From 1909 to 1912, Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) made several trips to the territory around the Ural Mountains, where he photographed railroad installations, factories, urban settings, and natural scenes. This photograph shows part of the village near the railway station at Viazovaia (present-day Chelyabinsk Oblast). Viazovaia is located on what was then called the Samara-Zlatoust Railroad, built in 1885–90. Completed in 1890, the station became the junction of a spur built in 1905 to the factory town of Katav-Ivanovsk, located 37 kilometers southwest. Because of an ...

From 1909 to 1912, Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) made several trips to the territory around the Ural Mountains, where he photographed railroad installations, factories, urban settings, and natural scenes. Among the towns Prokudin-Gorskii visited in the summer of 1910 was Ufa (now the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan). The Bashkir roots of the site are ancient. The Russian presence dates from 1573, when a large part of Bashkir territory was taken into the Muscovite state. Ufa was the center of a substantial Muslim population. In 1788 ...

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire.